Dark Mondays, $17.79 Amazon.com, by
Kage Baker, is a frustrating read. These nine stories lack cohesiveness; half flounder, yet half succeed. I fault the story sequence for the unnecessary drag -- the obvious opener being ‘Portrait, With Flames’ and the strongest closer actually being ‘Calamari Curls.’ Have you ever seen a more blatant marketing gimmick than the exclusion of a story either?
A book entitled ‘Dark Mondays’ should include the item
‘Dark Mondays and Peculiar Tuesdays’ don’t you think? That’s a rhetorical question
Night Shade Books should seriously consider. Very few people will be inclined to shell out an additional $21 dollars just to read an omitted story. Almost one third of these chronicles appeared first in
Asimov’s, Fictionwise.com, Poe’s Lighthouse, and
ReVisions.
Readers tend to classify Kage Baker’s work as science fiction, but the stories presented herein veer off into dark fantasy and the macabre. I haven’t read any of the other books in the
Company Series that she’s built her notoriety upon, but I’ve encountered her writing mainly through anthologies. Dark Mondays texturally deviates from her previous narrative content and style.
Kick me if I’m wrong, but Baker seems to be employing tactics similarly espoused by
Kelly Link. That’s another author that flourishes by throwing everything she can think of into the witch’s brew of her stories. This particular method seems to misfire when utilized by Baker. Her ensuing stories seem less chaotic, more forced. In comparison, Link is the better author.
My favorite in this collection is
‘Portrait, With Flames.’ It’s a strange story about a goth girl named Shadow that has reinvented herself as a freelance photographer living in
Hollywood. One Sunday evening, Shadow goes alone to a dance club where she encounters a very handsome young surfer; eventually they share much more than vodka. Includes a very accomplished twist ending.
One amusement is
‘Calamari Curls.’ At a remote
California township we’re introduced to Pegasus Bright, paraplegic owner of a chowder house facing closure when a Calamari Curls restaurant opens up next door. However -- with a stack of twenties, help from a transgender shaman, and timely assistance from a college band that does horrid cover songs, his competition is soon vanquished.
Next up? The depression-era tale
‘Katherine’s Story’ introduces us to newlyweds Bert and Katherine Loveland, as they arrive in Bert’s hometown at the Loveland family farm. This emotionally centered piece tells the bleak account of a cultured young woman that (through marriage) has become isolated and consequentially gives birth to a disabled child she won’t allow the doctors to institutionalize. Bravo!
Despite stilted dialogue in
‘Oh, False Young Man! ,’ I really enjoyed it. This satire presents us with Madame Eudora Rigby (modeled after Madame Marie Tussaud) who has succeeded in creating a cybernetic robot that’s she’s passing off as her son -- Jack Rigby. The delight is in watching how
San Francisco society ladies of 1906 react to the young hunk.
Another story reveling in historic anachronism is
‘Silent Leonardo.’ This yarn presupposes a time when
Leonardo da Vinci turned away from producing art to create machines of modern warfare for a wealthy patron -- Galeazzo Sforza -- the Duke of Milan. Later in 1505, he finds himself a disconsolate drunk, living in an old country inn in the English backcountry.
You’ll enjoy the five stories I’ve listed above, and will probably skim the others.
‘The Two Old Women’ was a poor choice for the introductory story; it lacked a hook.
‘Monkey Day’ was a mess.
‘So This Guy Walks Into A Lighthouse’ was just too short. Finally, the pirate novella
‘The Maid On The Shore’ proved to be an interminable bore.
Since I like half Baker’s prose, I’ll give Dark Mondays a guarded three star recommendation. The striking cover illustration by
Mike Dringenberg will probably sell many copies of this book, but its appearance is overtly hip in contrast to her writing. I also liked the embossed silver foil underneath the jacket, but that seems a wasted touch.
(65/72)
_______________________________________________________________________
The Book:
Dark Mondays,
Night Shade Books
ISBN-10:
1-59780-051-1 (Trade Hardcover - Suggested Price $26.95)
1-59780-050-3 (Limited Edition - Suggested Price $49.00)
Pages:
231 Pages (Trade Hardcover)
Rating:
3 Stars
10 Stories:
The Two Old Women
Portrait, With Flames
Monkey Day
Calamari Curls
Katherine’s Story
Oh, False Young Man!
So This Guy Walks into a Lighthouse
Silent Leonardo
The Maid on the Shore
Dark Mondays and Peculiar Tuesdays (in Limited Edition only)
If You Like Dark Mondays, you might enjoy:
Gods and Pawns,
In The Garden of Iden,
Mendoza in Hollywood,
Sky Coyote,
The Children of the Company,
The Graveyard Game,
The Life of the World to Come,
The Machine’s Child,
Visit the Official Websites:
www.kagebaker.com
www.nightshadebooks.com
Visit the authors Wikipedia entry:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kage_Baker
Keywords:
Artists, Barbados, California, Children, Divorce, Ghosts, Gold, Hispaniola, Hollywood, Isolation, Jamaica, Lighthouse, Panama, Parents, Photographers, Restaurants, Pirates, Revenge, Robots, Rum, San Francisco, Shipwrecks, Small Towns, Smoking, Supernatural, The Devil, The Mayflower, Vampires, Veterans, Warfare.
France
Germany
United Kingdom
Australia
USA
